Russia ignores ceasefire as refugees flee

A tide of refugees is leaving towns and villages ruined by bombing as the US has condemned Russian military intervention in South Ossetia and Georgia. Russia has ignored a ceasefire declared by Georgia's president Mikhail Saakashvili, and continued air strikes against targets near the Georgian capital, Tbilisi. The city's international airport was bombed hours before the French foreign minister was due to land on an EU mission.

American vice president Dick Cheney telephoned Mr Saakashvili to say that Russian aggression "must not go unanswered", and president George W Bush said he had expressed grave concern to Moscow at its "disproportionate" response to Friday's incursion into South Ossetia by Georgian troops.

Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin has taken charge of the crisis, brushing aside his recently-elected president, Dmitry Medvedev. He visited South Ossetia who have fled into Russia, said to number 22,000. UNHCR UNHCR estimates that a further 10,000 to 20,000 people have been displaced within Georgia, including South Osseti.